


Miss Missing You

by taylor_tut



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Orphan Peter Parker, Parent-Child Relationship, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Sad Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 07:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14869031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Someone on tumblr requested "Tony giving Peter advice about anything," as if I have a wisdom to impart on Tony to impart on Peter, so I did my best. Have Tony talking Peter through the process of grieving grief--that point you hit where it's getting easier and you don't know how to cope with that.





	Miss Missing You

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact I teared up writing this because Peter Parker is. so good

Peter set down the glove he was tinkering with and breathed out a heavy sigh, scrubbing his face with his hands heavily before turning his attention back to his work.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You good, kid?” he asked. “Protocol givin’ you trouble? I can take a look, if you want.”

Peter shook his head. “No, it’s not that–,” he paused, then ammended, “it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Tony frowned. “Something on your mind?” he asked casually, not looking up from his own computer monitor. He didn’t like eyes on him when he was upset, and something told him that Peter might be the same way. Fawning too early might make him shut down completely. 

“I–like I said, it’s nothing,” Peter said, but when Tony gave him a patient glance and a head nod, he continued. “I just… found some things last night.”

“Things?” Tony echoed. “What kind of things?” 

His head spun with all the worst-case scenarios until Peter replied, “Just some pictures.”

Tony paused. 

“Pictures of… well, a whole photo album, really–of me and my parents.”

Tony softened. “Ah, kid,” he sighed, but Peter shook his head.

“No, that’s not…! Ugh, I don’t know how to explain it. It won’t make sense.”

Tony scootched his lab chair closer to Peter. “You know, I’ve been called a genius,” he said, and Peter snorted. 

“Yeah, by you,” he interjected.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Tony continued pointedly, “I’ve understood a lot of things that don’t make sense. Why don’t you try me?”

Peter took a steadying breath.

“I saw all the pictures,” he explained shakily, “of my parents and me, and a bunch of us with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, too.”

Tony waited for him to continue.

“I’ve seen that photo album a hundred times before, but… well–and like I said, this sounds totally stupid and nonsensical–I didn’t cry this time.”

Tony blinked. “And that upset you,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t know why,” Peter admitted. “I just… I mean, I felt sad, but this is the first time I’ve looked at those pictures and didn’t cry. And I don’t know why that makes me feel weird.”

“Well, that’s easy. You feel like you’re giving up on ‘em, right?” Tony asked. “Like if you’re not grieving, then you don’t care anymore, and that if you don’t care anymore, you probably didn’t care that much in the first place. Am I in the ballpark?”

Peter’s eyes filled up a little bit.

“Shit,” he cursed, laughing a little in self-pity and embarrassment, “ _now_  I can cry,” he said.

Tony didn’t take the deflection. “Look, Peter,” he said slowly, gently, using the rarity of his full first name, “I get it.”

“No, you don’t!” Peter snapped. “Your parents–I mean, it’s been years, and you still–with Mr. Barnes…”

Tony sighed. “Steve tell you that?” he asked. 

“Mr. Barton did,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t matter, beacause your parents have been gone for longer than I’ve been alive, and you still care that much. And I just…”

“That’s because I never dealt with it, kid,” Tony said. “You’re doing exactly what they would have wanted you to do. You’re going after everything you want and grabbing the stars out of the sky and all that other good stuff that’s in your high school alma mater.” Tony took a long sip of his coffee. “My parents would have wanted me to be better than turning into an alcoholic who chases away everyone who tries to get close and any chance at real happiness.”

Peter swiped at his eyes and didn’t look up.

“I care in all the ways that make the pain disappear,” he explained. “You’re caring in all the ways that would make them proud.”

Peter scooted his own chair a little closer to Tony, definitely silently asking for a hug but settling for the small circles Tony rubbed into his back before he realized what he was doing. 

Tony sat him up to look him in the red-rimmed eyes. “Crying is fine, but it isn’t proof you loved them,” he reassured. “You’re doing a million times better than I did. And it might feel like they slip away as the years make it easier, but–you’re not letting them go. You’re channeling their memories into becoming the kind of man they’d want you to be. And that,” he finally pulled Peter in for the breifest hug the kid had ever gotten, “is pretty amazing.”

Peter smiled a watery smile. “Thanks, Mr. Stark,” he said, turning back to his glove as soon as Tony stood back up to fill his mug like nothing had happened. 


End file.
